


I see my future in your eyes

by rainpaint



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Genre: F/M, Happy Third Fitzsimmons Wedding-a-Versary Y'all, wedding anniversary
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-09
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-16 19:49:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29955024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rainpaint/pseuds/rainpaint
Summary: Three of Fitzsimmons's wedding anniversaries. Well, five, counting the time loop.
Relationships: Leo Fitz/Jemma Simmons
Comments: 4
Kudos: 25





	I see my future in your eyes

**Author's Note:**

> Set in the same universe as [a fluid, ever-changing, beautiful thing](http://www.archiveofourown.org/works/28387107) and [to carry love, to carry children of our own](http://www.archiveofourown.org/works/29456304), but you don't have to have read either of those first. All you really need to know is Alya was due on Valentine's Day 2020 but arrived 2.5 weeks early on January 27, 2020 instead.

**_March 9, 2019_ **

Jemma waits until everyone else has retreated to their bunks for a simulated night's sleep before heading to the lab. Standing in front of the communication panel, she shuts her eyes and takes a deep breath. They hit another dead end today, of all days, but she steels her spine and grasps the ring hanging on the chain around her neck. _We will find him._ I _will find him._

She nods once, purses her lips, and hits the button that will connect the Zephyr's communication device to the one in the director's office. "Zephyr One to Lighthouse. Is anyone there?"

"Lighthouse to Zephyr One. Simmons? Is everything all right?"

Daisy had filled Mack in earlier that day on the disappointing results of their lead, and Jemma knows seeing the contact device light up for a second time in one day probably gave Mack a jolt. She knows that's the reason for the concern in his voice. She knows that's what he means by "Is everything all right?"

She clears her throat before responding. "Yes, sorry to bother you. It's not an emergency or even anything, really. I was just wondering, whenever you have a moment, if you could upload a video to my files." Her voice resolutely does not shake. "The one dated a year ago today, from your phone."

She hopes Mack doesn't ask her for more information or make a knowing, sympathetic comment, but she also knows those are the risks she took by contacting him in the first place and requesting that video. To her utter relief, he simply says, "I'll send it right over."

"Thank you, sir."

"Take care, Simmons."

She ends the call and strides over to the computer. She stares at the screen, arms crossed and fingers clamped to the opposite bicep. After just a few moments, a new MP4 file named "FS03092018" appears. Biting her cheek, she clicks on it.

And then there he is, striding out of the elevator with Coulson and Deke. She clamps a hand over her mouth and, choking back a sob, pauses the video with her other, shaking hand. She's looked at pictures of him since--but this is different. Seeing him _moving_ and _happy_ and _full of life_ \--it's all she's hoping for, and it's entirely too much at this moment.

"Jemma?"

In one swift motion, she clicks off of the video and swipes at her eyes before turning to see Daisy standing in the doorway. "Daisy? What are you doing up? I'm on night shift tonight."

"Yeah, like you don't stay up every night anyway." Daisy crosses her arms and nods at the computer screen. "I got a notification that we got an upload from the Lighthouse. Did Mack send you a new lead?"

"No, just . . . something I forgot to upload to my flash drive before we left." Something she didn't think she would need, because she hadn't though it would take quite this long to find Fitz.

Daisy nods and gives her an assessing look. "You okay? I know today wasn't what we were hoping for."

Jemma shrugs one shoulder. "I'll be all right." She wishes Daisy would leave so that she can decide if she wants to try to watch the rest of the video. She feels like she should do something to mark this day, a day that was so significant in her life. But the one person for whom the day would also hold the same weight isn't there with her--can't be there with her--and she's not sure she can handle it by herself.

Suddenly, she looks at Daisy again--really looks at her. Daisy was there. Her voice was part of the enthusiastic chorus of "Ayes." She held Jemma's bouquet and witnessed their vows, beaming and crying and applauding.

Jemma's not even sure if Daisy's aware of what day it is today (Jemma rather hopes she isn't), but _Daisy was there_ , and that's something, and that compels her to say, "Mack sent me the video of the wedding. My wedding. Do you want to watch it with me?"

Daisy shoots her a double take. "Jem--are you sure?"

Jemma's smile doesn't quiver a bit. "Quite sure."

Daisy nods. "Okay."

So they sit, side by side, in front of the computer screen, and watch. And when Jemma's lip starts to tremble as she watches herself say her vows, Daisy doesn't say a thing; she simply offers her hand and lets Jemma curl her fingers tightly around her palm for the rest of the video. 

**_March 9, 2020 (Loop)_ **

"I can't believe she's six weeks old already," Fitz whispers, shutting the door to Alya's nursery. 

Jemma takes his hand as they walk to the kitchen to grab some lunch. "Yes, and you know what that means."

"Yeah, she might smile for real pretty soon."

"Well, yes, that too." She rubs her thumb across the back of his hand and glances over at him, eyebrows arched. "But it also means it's been six weeks since I've given birth. And, according to this morning's report from the healing pod, I've completely recovered."

Fitz stops in his tracks. "Really. So we can--?"

"Mmhmm." Jemma gives him a knowing grin. "I can't think of better timing for that than our anniversary, can you?"

Fitz's ears turn pink even as his eyes darken, and he clears his throat. "Speaking of timing, d'you think Enoch would mind watching Alya this evening once he gets back?"

Jemma presses a teasing kiss to his cheek. "I already asked him."

He turns and captures her kiss on his lips instead. "You think of everything."

"I know," Jemma says against his mouth. "I also asked him to pick up some condoms."

Fitz squawks, pulling away. "What?"

Eyes wide, Jemma shrugs, palms up. "Well, I'm not going through another pregnancy in space!"

Fitz sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. "Right. Yeah. Okay. I'll just . . . help him unload the quinjet so I don't have to look him in the face when he hands me the box or something."

"That's a sensible plan." They kiss once more, full of promise.

\---

Jemma knows Fitz has missed her, and she's missed him too, even amid the busyness and exhaustion of taking care of a newborn, but she still isn't quite prepared for how _good_ that night is. It hurts a bit even as they take things very slowly. But it feels so wonderful to be physically closer than they've been in months, and her body feels like _hers_ in a way it hasn't in a long time.

"That," she says breathlessly, after, "was even better than our wedding night."

Fitz scoffs and throws a pillow at her, but he can't hide his smirk.

**_March 9, 2020_ **

They're in the States, having been asked to guest-speak for a few lectures at the newly minted Coulson Academy, so they leave Alya with May for the evening and go out for a proper anniversary dinner.

When Fitz pulls up to the restaurant, Jemma shoots him a knowing, fond smile. It's the same restaurant where he tried to take her on their disastrous first not-date after Maveth. She's glad she'll be able to enjoy it properly this time.

As they walk into the restaurant, though, she feels a rush of nerves. She has something to ask him, and though she's almost certain what his answer will be, the anticipation of asking still causes a swirl of excitement and anxiety in her chest.

The server has barely filled their wine glasses and walked away before Fitz looks at her keenly. "Got something on your mind?"

She breathes a laugh. "Is it that obvious?"

He smiles. _Only to me, maybe_. 

She draws a deep breath. "After we order, all right?" She'd planned to ask him before they got their food anyway, hoping to settle the nerves in her stomach so that she could savor the pasta that, from a glance at the menu, seemed at least similar to the one Fitz had made sure they would have for her all those years before.

Once the server has taken their orders, Fitz raises his eyebrows expectantly. There's a bit of anxious hope in his eyes too, and Jemma's memory flashes back to when, she now realizes, he'd first wondered if she was pregnant with Alya. "You already know, don't you?"

He takes a slightly shuddering breath and looks her in the eyes. "It's--it's probably the same question I was going to ask you tonight."

She reaches across the table and takes his hand. "We're ready to give Alya a sibling, aren't we?"

"Yeah. I mean, if you are."

She laughs. "Fitz, I just said I was!"

"Right. Good. Good." He ducks his head and grins, and Jemma feels her heart stutter. 

Their food arrives, and they keep grinning at each other across the table between bites. Jemma watched their wedding video earlier, and a line from her vows floats through her mind. _I can't wait for our next adventure: building a family together._

_And here we_ _are_ , she thinks as they leave the restaurant, hand in hand. _It took a long time, but here we are._

**_March 9, 2021 (Loop)_ **

"Say 'happy!'"

"Buh-buh!"

"Yes, that is a bubble. Now, can you say 'happy'?"

"Buh-buh?"

"Can you say 'Happy anniversary, Mummy'?"

"Mummy buh-buh!"

Jemma laughs at the video on her phone and glances over at Fitz. "You tried."

"I did. So many times." He shakes his head and digs his spoon into his ice cream sundae.

"Well, bubbles are very distracting."

Alya's asleep, Enoch's tinkering with the time drive, and they're sitting in the cockpit of the quinjet, looking at the stars and eating anniversary ice cream sundaes and watching videos of their thirteen-month-old.

Fitz swipes to another video. "She's walking so well now--and turning into quite the chatterbox."

Jemma smiles, though it's a bit pained. "She's not a baby anymore, is she?"

"Guess not." After shooting her a fleeting smile, he clears his throat and studies his spoon for a second before scooping up another bite. Jemma doesn't press him. He was a mess the morning of Alya's first birthday a few weeks ago. 

"Well--" Jemma sighs and sets her empty bowl on the dash--"at least she sleeps through the night now."

"Yeah." Fitz nods a couple of times before growing quiet for a few moments. "But sometimes I miss the way she would fall asleep on my chest."

"Me too." She has a photo of that very thing on her nightstand, but nothing can recreate that feeling.

"At least she eats food that's not just mush now." Fitz wrinkles his nose.

"Yes, she gobbled down those blueberry pancakes earlier."

"'Course she did. I made them, and they were fantastic."

Jemma tilts her head in concession, a corner of her mouth curling fondly. They gaze out at the stars for a few minutes, and then she says, "Remember the first time you gave her a bottle?"

"I'll never forget it." He breathes a laugh. "And I'll never forget the last time either." They'd switched her to sippy cups right before her first birthday, and she'd taken to them without any fuss, to their relief; it was definitely worse for her and Fitz than for Alya.

Jemma draws a breath, shaking herself out of their bittersweet stroll down memory lane. "But we'll keep making more memories with her."

"Yeah." Fitz wraps an arm around her shoulder and says tentatively, "And, one day we--we could, you know, do it all again, yeah? If you want."

Jemma kisses his temple. "I think, one day, I'd like that very much."

**_March 9, 2021_ **

Jemma stands in their gazebo, bouquet of flowers in hand, breeze teasing the strands of hair that have escaped from her updo, and waits for Fitz.

Beside her, Alya swishes the hem of her purple dress against her legs and hums happily beneath her breath. Beneath her own cream-colored sundress, the baby kicks. (They're calling him James Orion Enoch Fitzsimmons, though they haven't told anyone yet. Fitz says Hunter won't recognize the connection, but Jemma thinks Hunter's smarter than Fitz gives him credit for.)

Speaking of Hunter--Jemma can see the guests from here, though they can't see her. As she gazes out at the crowd, her heart swells at the sight of each beloved face, especially those who weren't there for the wedding. Her parents and Fitz's mum sit in the front row. A few rows back, Hunter and Bobbi are talking to Elena while Flint entertains their little girl, Isabelle (it's so strange to Jemma that Isabelle's birthday falls a few weeks before Alya's, but Alya is years older). A row over from them, Piper appears to be bickering with Davis, as usual, and Kora and Daniel sit on either side of Daisy. Farther down that row, Coulson chats with May, who laughs at something he said.

Fitz walks up behind her, and she smiles to see him standing there, so handsome in his kilt. "You got it set up, then?"

"I did. We should be able to send him the video this evening."

"Good." They figured out how to talk to Deke earlier this year, and while they haven't managed to get real-time video chat working yet, they can send him recordings. They've sent him dozens of videos of Alya, and when they told him about their vow renewal, he immediately requested a video of that too.

Fitz smiles at them and holds out his hands. "You look beautiful--both of you."

Alya grins up at him. "Can we go now? I want everyone to see my dress."

Holding Alya's hands, they walks up the aisle to where Mack waits to officiate. They both exchange quick grins with him before their gazes come to rest on each other. Their vows are more traditional this time, both in the spirit of a vow renewal instead of a wedding and because some of the things they'd incorporated into their original vows are quite classified. But at the end of hers, Jemma adds, "You are my life, my heart, and my home" and squeezes Fitz's hand.

For his part, he says, "I don't know what I did to deserve you--" Alya tugs on his hand, and he adds, "Any of you." He takes a shaky breath and rubs the back of Jemma's hand with his thumb. "But you've taught me that it's not about deserving or not deserving. It's about choosing, and I'm so glad we've chosen each other. I am the luckiest man on earth."

They kiss to loud cheers and applause and a wolf whistle they'll blame entirely on Hunter. When they break apart, they laugh to see Alya wrinkling her nose at them. Then it's time to celebrate just how far they've come.

**Author's Note:**

> In "a fluid, ever-changing, beautiful thing" Fitz jokes about naming a future son after Hunter. The constellation Orion is otherwise known as the Hunter. Did Hunter figure this out? Of course (it's not really as subtle as Fitz might've hoped). Is he insufferable about it? You bet.


End file.
